No plans of retirement as of now: Afridi

Islamabad, April 12(ANI): Pakistan’s limited-overs captain Shahid Afridi has made it clear that he has no plans of retirement at the moment, and that he will keep playing for his country “for as long as people can bear” with him.

“When we lost the semi-final World Cup my dad called me right away. He made sure I wasn’t going to make any emotional decisions,” the Dawn quoted Afridi, as saying in a television interview, referring to Pakistan’s suffocating 29-run defeat at the hands of India in the World Cup semi final clash on March 30.

“I have no plans of retirement at the moment and I will play on for as long as people can bear with me. The 2015 World Cup is a long way away, but the 2012 World Twenty20 is definitely something that I’m thinking about,” he added.

When asked whom he would back as future captain for Pakistan, Afridi said: “I think that for the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the selectors to decide…I can’t say much on it.”

“At the moment there is no one I can earmark particularly, but there are quite a few young players who can lead the team. When Imran Khan left everyone was wondering where the next leader would come from, but as we all know, there were quite a few capable people who followed,” he added.

Talking about the upcoming West Indies tour, where Pakistan will play all three formats of the game, Afridi expressed confidence that the results would “surely be good” if his boys play to their full potential.

“I think right now we have a pretty balanced test side so we can probably achieve what we haven’t in the past. The conditions are pretty similar to the subcontinent unlike the past. I really enjoy playing over there because after a hard day’s game you can unwind on the beach. If we play to our potential, the results will surely be good,” he maintained. (ANI)